Our Favorite Saucy, Smoky Baked Beans.
Okay hi! It’s basically officially summer so let’s just start doing the whole baked beans thing.
Because it’s time! It’s really time.
Even if you are making them for yourself. You’re worth the good beans, I’m telling you.
If you’ve been here long enough you may remember when I didn’t even like these summer favorite beans.
Times have changed!
Years ago I made these bourbon beans and they hooked me. Seriously, hooked me! They turned me into a baked bean lover and now I’m convinced that no outdoor cookout, barbecue or summer meal is complete without a side of baked beans.
Now.
While I do really love these slow cooker bourbon baked beans, this here is the recipe I’ve found myself making more often for the last few years. Probably since I’ve had kids and had a little less time on my hands.
Also, I should warm you that it’s kind of semi-homemade. I mean, it’s definitely semi-homemade. Not kind of.
But they are so easy!
While my slow cooker beans recipe uses dry beans (so, like, the entire recipe is from scratch), I actually used canned baked beans in this one and I LOVE them. Since making this, I’ve become quite the baked bean snob over here. I’ve tried many different brands and varieties but for this particular recipe, I always come back to the Bush’s Grillin’ Beans. Specially, we love the southern pit bbq or the bourbon bacon flavor. They are so good in this recipe!
That being said, you can use whatever can of baked beans you can find. Just throwing out my random recommendations in case you want them.
I find that this recipe yields a thicker, more syrupy baked bean, in a really good way if that makes sense. Don’t let it scare you off! They are not overly sweet, but they are obviously still sweet.
However, there is enough dijon, smoked paprika and chipotle in here that it’s no overwhelmingly sweet.
Yes. So much flavor.
I have adapted this over the years from Ree’s recipe. Her’s are absolutely amazing, they just make a ton of baked beans! And even when we have a party or I take the beans somewhere, I don’t need that many. Lots of people in my family have an aversion to baked beans – hey, even I had one up until the last decade!
My mom still puts cut up hot dogs in her baked beans and I just… cannot. I mean, I love a good hot dog. We ate hot dogs this past weekend; felt like summer. I just don’t want them cut up in my baked beans!
P.S. if any of you have been around long enough, do you remember when I discovered my obsession with baked beans and loved putting them on top of poached or fried eggs, on toast? That was SO GOOD. Def doing it again.
Anyway.
This makes a “nice” sized amount, even if I just make them for our family. We eat, save a bit for leftovers and freeze the rest if I don’t give it away. It’s perfect!
Give me a plate of these with a smash burger and I’m good to go!
Baked Beans
Favorite Baked Beans
Ingredients
- 2 sliced bacon, diced
- 1 small sweet onion, diced
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1/4 TO 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons BBQ sauce
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 (22 ounce) cans baked beans (I love Bush’s Grillin’ Beans for this recipe)
- 2 slices bacon, for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Heat a large (oven safe, if you don’t want to transfer) skillet over medium-low heat and add the bacon. Cook until it’s brown and crisp and most of the fat is rendered.
- Stit in the onion, pepper and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until everything softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the paprika, chili powder, salt and pepper. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, BBQ sauce, ketchup, mustard and brown sugar until combined.
- Stir in the baked beans directly from the can. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn off the heat. I suggest tasting the beans here and adding more salt, pepper or heat if desired. If you'd like, you can lay a few strips of bacon on top of the beans here too!
- Place the skillet (or transfer to an oven-safe dish) in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until bubbly and syrup. Remove and let cool slightly before serving.
- You can make these ahead of time - cook them in the skillet then let cook to room temperature and cover, placing in the fridge. Bake the next day (or whenever you’re ready!).
- These also freeze well!
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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I appreciate you so much!
Oh so saucy.
228 Comments on “Our Favorite Saucy, Smoky Baked Beans.”
Made these following the recipe. I made them in my instapot and they came out great!
How long did you cook them in the instant pot?
Fabulous recipe! I used triple the bacon because I love it and hot smoked paprika for extra zip! This is heart and has a great balance of flavors.
Love the recipe! I’ve made it a few times and it’s always a hit. I swap out the ketchup for all bbq sauce, but these are the best beans ever either way.
I’m step #6, “you said you can cook in skillet then let cook to room temp.” Did you mean “then let set to room temp?” Thanks so much!
I was wondering the same. I think it was supposed to read as “cool to room temperature”. :cD
What BBQ sauce do you use?
I don’t see bourbon in the ingredients! How much -and when???
This is not a recipe for Slow Cooker Bourbon Baked Beans. In the preface, the author references a different recipe for Slower Cooker Bourbon Baked Beans, and you can click on a link to see that recipe, but again that’s not this recipe. Ergo there is no bourbon called for in this recipe for Favorite Baked Beans.
Mary, it was mentioned here and I did indeed find Bush Grillin’ Beans in a bourbon flavor! Will be making them today.
“I’ve tried many different brands and varieties but for this particular recipe, I always come back to the Bush’s Grillin’ Beans. Specially, we love the southern pit bbq or the bourbon bacon flavor. They are so good in this recipe!”
I followed this recipe except that I didnt add the brown sugar or sweet pepper. I thought it was al ready sweet enough without more sugar. Especially liked the chipolte chili seasoning, dijon and smoked paprika.
It was bettee after sitting overnight.
BEST baked bean recipe! Everyone loves it when I make it for parties!
Will this feed 8-10 people as a side dish or should I double the recipe? Thanks!
I don’t think I will be able to eat any other baked beans besides these.. nothing else will compare! Delicious! Thank you.
Made this recipe this weekend. I used the Brush’s beans and added 1 can of Campbells pork and beans. Everything else was from the original recipe. Everyone enjoyed them and some went back for seconds.
Best baked beans ever! Making them again today. Thanks for recipe.
Excellent! I added a little more spice and forgot the brown sugar. Perfect amount of sweetness and kick. I’ll make again for a crowd.
Which type of Bush Grillin beans did you use?
OMG!!!!! These baked beans are the best I have ever had. I want to make another batch. I looked at the picture of the recipe and that’s why I made them. They came out just like they look in the picture and taste amazing. Thank you for this wonderful recipe. It’s 4th of July tomorrow and will use this recipe for so many years to come. We are having BBQ Ribs, baked beans, potato salad and macaroni salad. Thanks again.
Wonderfully delicious.
I was asked to make baked beans for a July 4th get together with friends. I had never made them before and am so glad I found this recipe. The only changes I made were to omit the bacon, in case of vegetarian attendees, and the brown sugar, only because I used ‘Bush’s Brown Sugar & Bourbon Baked Beans’. This dish was the hit of the party and people asked for containers to take some home.
These are fantastic and I don’t even like baked beans!!
Followed the recipe as written. Awesome!
Our go-to recipe! People who aren’t expecting spicy always say that they’re delicious and “have a kick to them!”so I go light on the paprika and chili powder if I’m not sure of the crowd. But this is a winner for sure!
Fabulous recipe! I used triple the bacon because I love it and hot smoked paprika for extra zip! This is heart and has a great balance of flavors.
Kumar Medical Care
Excellent recipe. I added the bacon strips in a cross on top before baking and they looked beautiful and tasted even better. They were smoky, spicy and sweet. Thank you.
Y’all should try adding ground beef! I seasoned the meat with garlic powder, onion powder and pepper. Added the onions and green peppers and cooked through. We are not a fan of apple cider vinegar, replaced with yellow mustard. Added more bacon diced up and on top. Also more brown sugar. Comes out delicious.
Couldn’t get the recipe!
Has anyone made with dried navy beans?
Dry beans soak up alot of liquid. So I’d suggest cooking them atleast almost all the way then adding to the rest of ingredients in this. Canned Beans would require additional amounts of ingredients. This is a spiced up version added to an already made recipe so to add plain or uncooked beans would require the know how of adding ingredients to achieve this result. Bushes beans are flavored really well which is why this makes it faster too. A start from scratch recipe of this nature would take hours to make if you’d like to.
Which type of Bush Grillin beans did you use?
I made this recipe for my son’s graduation party. I made a huge batch and they were mostly gone! The baked beans never get finished but people couldn’t get enough. I cooked them in the crockpot after staring everything on the stove and they were perfect.
When you made a huge batch, did you just follow the recipe exactly for each batch? Just curious how many batches you did for how many people.
I tried this baked beans recipe for a family gathering, and it was a hit! The beans turned out flavorful and rich, with just the right balance of sweetness and smokiness.
Can I make these in a crock pot?
Add some cooked crispy bacon to add even more flavors to this and kick it up a notch with a 1/4 to 1/2 can (small one) of jalepenos. The flavors are to die for. Yummy.
The best baked beans recipe ever! Really really tasty and so easy. Thank you!
OUTSTANDING! I doubled the recipie but with the following substitutions: Used 1 bell and 1 poblano instead of 2 bell peppers. Someone else in said replace ketchup with bbq, I did so (sticky fingers original). Also used bush’s original recipe beans. And for bacon I diced up an entire pound and put it all in the recipe, but I did remove about half of the grease before cooking the peppers and onions down. Definitely in the “will make again and again” list of recipes.
Excellent recipe , super delicious and simple to make ! I remove the bacon and sauté the onions pepper and garlic then add the liquid of the beans and pu everything in my blender then add everything back to the pot and bake it as recipe calls for. The best , no left overs , thanks a good sign !!! Thank you :)
I LOVE BAKED BEANS
Oh my. Sooo good. I didn’t have enough beans and measured ingredients with my heavy handed heart. I did use Anaheim pepper with red. Quite spicy
Perfect recipe tried once barbecue beans in Dc and was blown away!
The bean is not found in London but mates bought me from target
I double the seasoning and added extra black pepper, salt sugar and chilli powder. Love them
Made these over the weekend and OMG, they really are THE BEST!!! Packed with flavor and the perfect accompaniment to any barbecue. Thank you for another phenomenal recipe!
you mentioned this recipe freezes well. do you bake them, let cool, and then freeze? or do you get it to the baking stage, but freeze, thaw and then bake?
I didn’t have baked beans but I did have pintos. I guess I didn’t look very closely at the store but I wasn’t making another trip. So I used what I had and also didn’t add BBQ sauce, no need really, just added a splash of Worcestershire, molasses, more catsup and brown sugar. Great beans!!! The smoked paprika is genius. TY
Made this last night, best beans ever and i don’t care for bake beans that much.
The mustard is what makes it for me. Not a fan of Dijon on its own but the recipe has me trying it out in cooking now with other recipes. FYI though this is a hit whenever I make it for gatherings, one of my go-to’s.
They are delicious. Only change I made was cook it in a skillet instead of the oven. Will definitely make again.
I have now made this a couple times and it’s always the favorite side dish. I tried it with Whole Foods baked beans and campfire baked beans, and another time with Bush’s Grillin’ Beans and both were delightful.
Have you tried these in a crockpot/any tips for making in a crock pot?
Has anyone out these in crockpot after doing skillet stuff? If so temp & how long!
Thanks!
Thank you , close as I could find to my mother’s recipe…
This seems like a lot of baked beans for six people. How big are those servings?
I need to feed 10-12, but I don’t want a lot leftover.
Making these today. I can tell they are going to be amazing. Sort of random—do you lay the bacon on top raw or cook it first!?
Can I make this in a slower cooker?? I have ribs going in the oven and don’t want to let the heat out if I can help it. Thanks in advance, this looks delicious!!
Can you make these in a crockpot? I am taking these for a Mother’s Day barbecue and want them to stay warm since people will be coming at different times.